Device for cleaning and cooling grain



March 18, 1924.:

- .J. woLLMANN DEVICE FOR CLEANING AND COOLING GRAIN Filed June 28., 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /NVE/V T07? .J'A COB :MJL/ MANN .a Y /f/ s ATTORNE 7 J. WOLLMANN DEVICE FOR CLEANING AND COOLING GRAIN Filed June lMarch v18 1924.

l/llllIlI/l Patented Mar. 18, 1924..

yNITED STATES JACOB WOLLMANN, OF FREEIVIAN, SOUTH.' DAKOTA.

DEVICE FOR CLEANING AND COOLING GRAIN.

Appiication inea June 28, 1922. serial No. 571,479.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB VOLLMANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Freeman, in the county of Hutchinson and are now coming into wide use and eectively clean and cool the grain at the time the same is transferred to the elevator yand without any separate handling of the grain.

l It is an object of this invention to provide a simple and efficient grain cleaner of the type mentioned comprising a casing enclosing the grain directing parts and also enclosing a blower casing and discharge passages therefrom.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a cleaner comprising a casing having means for directing a blast of air through grain distributed therein adjacent one end and bottom ofthe casing and having a conduit receiving said blast and arranged to direct said blast backwardly across the top of the casing.

It is still another object of the invention to provide such a cleaner comprising a casing through which the grain isdischarged and having a rotary distribute-r for the grain together with means for directing air through the grain beneath said distributer.

It is also an object of the invention to have a blower casing for creating a blast of air provided with vertically spaced converging outlet passages arranged to direct a plurality of blasts of air through the grain below4 the said distributor. v

A still further object of the invention is to construct the said casing with an inwardly and downwardly directed end wall opposite the blast passages, said wall being provided with longitudinally extending corrugations.

rlhese and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the saine parts throughout the dierent views, and in' which Y Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the device; y

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 11-4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a small perspective view of one part of the device.

Referring to the drawings, the device comprises a narrow casing illustrated as of substantially rectangular shape, said casing comprising sidewalls 1 and 2 and end walls 3 and 4. The top of said casing carries a hopper 5 adapted to receive the grain and said hopper has an outer straight side forming with the side'l of the casing, a vertical discharge passage, said side '1 having an opening 6 therethrough through which said discharge passage delivers. The casing is provided adjacent the top portion with an opening 7 which forms a blast inlet opening and with an opening or discharge passage 8 for said blast at the opposite end. A floorforming partition 9 extends downwardly from the bottom of the opening 7 across the casing and said casing is provided adjacent the lower end of its partition with an opening 10, the lower end of the partition being formed as a discharge spout. A vertical partition 11 extends from the bottom of partition 9 substantially to the bottom of the casing and is disposed considerably closer to one end of the casing than to the other. A hopper 12 extends between the partition 11 and the end wall 3 immediately below the opening 6 and is adapted to receive the grain discharged through said opening. The hopper 12 has a contracted discharge opening extending transversely across the casing, which discharge opening may be varied in extent by an adjustable slide 13 mounted on a suitable oor or support in said casing. A rotary grain distributer oragitator 14 is mounted in the casing and extends transversely across the same below the discharge opening of hopper 12. This agitator comprises a central rotary member from whichproject four equally and circumferentiallyr spaced rows of arms 15, the arms in the adjacent rows being arranged in staggered relation.

Q l Y 1,487,303

The chamber formed between the end wall 4 and the partition 11 contains a blower casing 16 in which a blower fan 17 rotates,

i said fan being carried by Va shaft 18 extending through thel casing and mounted in suitable bearings 19 mounted on supporting angle strips 2O extending alongthe side walls 1 and 2. The blower casing 16 is provided with an upper discharge passage 21 having its outlet disposed in an opening formed in partition 11 and said casing is provided with a second discharge passage 22, likewise having its outlet in an opening in partition 11'. Both of the passages 21 and 22 and particularly thelatter passage, are formed with converging walls so that the force of the blast is augmented toward and at the discharge passage, It will be noted that the vcasingplG is narrower than the main casing and openings 23, centrally disposed with relation tov the fan, extend from the former through the walls 1 and 2 and form the air inlet openings leading to the eye of the fan. These openings are adapted to be varied in extent, as desired, by slides 25 movable in guideways formed by strips 26 secured to the outside of the walls 1 and 2. The slides 25 are provided with chains or flexible menibers 27 adapted to be hoolred over a suitable hook or other support 28 on the outside of the casing to hold them in various adjusted positions, said slides moving to closing position by gravity. Y

The partition 11, it will be noted, extends at its bottom toward the end wall 3 and the l casing is provided opposite the blast discharge openings with a downwardly and inwardly directed wall portion 24, said portion also terminating in a short inwardly converging portion. This portion, together with the lower end of the partition 11, forms the'discharge part of the casing through which the grain passes after being cleaned, The portion 24 is provided on its upper surface with a corrugated plate 35, the corrugations of which extend upwardly in the longitudinal direction of said wall.

A curved conduit 29 has its upper end connected to the openings 7 of the casing and its lower end connected to an opening in the casing formed opposite the discharge passages 21 and 22. The lower or outer side of the conduit alines with and forms a continuation of the wall 24 so that the lower end of the conduit is formed with diverging upper and lowerwalls. Said conduit 29 is of the full width of the casing and ex tends between the side walls 1 and 2, The casing is pro-vided with a suitable opening in wall 2 opposite the opening 6 for inspection and cleaning and said opening is normally closed by a removable cover 30.

The shaft 18 and fan 17 are adapted to be driven by a pulley 31 secured to said shaft and driven by a belt from any suitable source of power. The other end of shaft 18 is provided with a pulley 32 connected by a cross belt 33 to a pulley 34 7 Y secured to the shaft carrying distributer 14. Said distributer is thus driven from the fan shaft and in an opposite direction therefrom,

The device described will be suitably dis 75 posed inthe receiving chute of a grain elevator, and theV orain will be discharged in the hopper will pass therefrom downwardly through opening 6 and into hopper 12. lFrom hopper 12 the grain will be dis- 80 charged across the width of the casing and will fall onto the revolving distributer which turns in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3. The grain is thus scattered and directed toward the end wall of the cas-V ing. The blast from the upper passage 21 passes through the grain closely adjacent the distributer and carries the light dust and waste matter therein upwardly through the conduit 29. As the grain falls, some of the saine accumulates more or less on the iioor 24. The blast from the lower passage 22 passes across the grain dropping through the bottom of the casing and part of this blast strikes against the wall 24. Owing to the corrugated surface 35, any foreign maf-V terial such as pieces of straw, corn cobs, etc. will lie across the corrugations or ribs of said surface while the grain will drop into the grooves and pass on down through the lo" The lower blast passage 22, it

rial from the grain. rlhe grain thus cleaned drops through the bottom of the casing and travels on to the elevator. The light inaterial blown into the conduit 29 is redirected thereby, together with the air to pass bac-kf ward across the top of the casing above the iioor 9. Some of the heavier material carried by the blast,such as light grains will drop onto said `floor or partition and be discharged at the lower end thereof through the opening 10. The dust and lighter Inaterial carried out by the blast will be blown out through the opening 8. 1t will be noted that the blower is contained in the casing and it is unnecessary to have a blower and support therefor on the outside of the casing. In some cleaners of the type described, the blast is blown directly out of the casing after` passing through the grain and it is necessary to have a screen blast receiving device mounted outside of the casing. By directing 1 the blast backwardly across `the top vofthe casing opportunity is' given for the heavier materials to be reclaimed from the blast to settle in the casing While the lighter dust and other particles are -`blown outside. It is unnecessary therefore to have any further device attached to the casing forreceiving the blast. The rotary distributer etliciently scatters the grain and insures that all parts thereof will beycooled and cleaned by the blast. The discharge of grain from the hopper l2 can, of course, .be regulated as desired by moving the slide 13.

From the above description it is seen that applicant has provided a simple, compact andeiiicient grain cleaner. The device can be constructed at comparatively small expense and when installed in an elevator has great utility for the purpose intended. l

It will,.of course, be understood that various changes could be made in the form,v

details and arrangement of the parts without departing from the scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists in the matter shown and described and set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A grain cleaner and cooler adapted to be disposed in the receiving chute of a. grain elevator having in combination, a compara-- tively narrow casing, a hopper disposed above the same having a delivery channel extending along one side of said casing, said casing having an opening in said side through which said channel delivers, a hopper for said casing below said opening extending across said casing, a rotary grain distributer belovvr said hopper, and means for directing a blast of air through the grain below said distributer.

2. A grain cleaner and cooler adapted to be disposed in the receiving chute of a grain elevator having in combination, a comparatively narrow casing, means for discharging grain downwardly therefrom adjacent one end thereof, a grain distributor in the path of said discharged grain, means adjacent the other end of the casing for directing a blast of air through said grain below said distributer, a curved conduit leading from the iirst mentioned end of said casing opposite said blast directing means adapted to receive said blast and 11e-direct the same across the top of said casing, a floor forming partition extending from said conduit downward across said casing above which said blast passes.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2, said casing having an outlet therein adjacent the lower end of said iioor forming partition and also having an outlet at the same side adjacent the top thereof for said blast.

4. A grain cleaner and cooler having in combination, a comparatively narrow casing, a chamber at the top thereof having openingsyinopp/ositewends rvthereof adjacent the y top, forminginlet and outlet openings for an air blast, a floor forming partition ex-v tending downwardly from the inlet opening entirely across said casing, said chamber having anopening adjacent the lower end ofsaid partitionand being closed save for said inlet and outlet and said last mentioned opening, means for distributing grain in a shower in saidcasing beneath said chamber, means. on the same sidefof the casing as said outlet openingpfor directing a blast of air through saidA grain, and a conduit on the same `sideof the casingas the inlet opening receiving said blast and directing the same back into said inlet opening across the casing above said partition. y

5. `A'grain cleaner and cooler having in combination, a `narrow casing, means for directing grain downwardly through ysaid casing adjacent one end thereof, arotary distributing means for said grain, means in said casing for directing a blast of air through said grain, a conduit receiving said blast and directing the same back in the reverse direction across the top of said casing, means for receiving the heavier material falling from said air blast as it passes across the casing, said casing having a blast outlet therefor at one upper corner thereof.

6. A grain cleaner and cooler comprising a casing having a vertically extending chamber therein, means for discharging grain downwardly in a shower through said casing, means at one side of said chamber for directing a blast of air upwardly across said chamber and through said grain, the wall of said chamber at the opposite sidefof said casing being inclined inwardly and downwardly and having corrugations on its surface extending upwardly along said wall against which part of the said blast is directed whereby heavier material will rest on the upper part of said corrugations and be caught up by the air blast and the grain will drop into the grooves of said corrugations and slide downwardly onto said wall.

7. A grain cleaner and cooler for the entrance chute of a grain elevator, having in combination, a comparatively narrow substantially rectangular casing, a iioor forming a partition extending downwardly across said casing from one end to the other adjacent the top thereof, a vertical partition extending from said partition to the bottom of said casing adjacent one end thereof forming a larger and smaller chamber in said casing, a distributing hopper at the up er end of said smaller chamber, a rotary istributer below said hopper, a blower casing in the larger chamber having vertically spaced converging upwardly directed discharge passages, openings in said vertical partition forming outlets for said passages whereby spaced air blasts are directed recting a blast of air through said grain,Y

a chamber extending across the top of said casing and means extending outside of said casing at one end thereof adapted to receive said air blast and direct the same back acrossv said chamber extending across the top or" said casing.

k9. A grain cleaner and cooler having in combination, a casing having side and comparatively narrow end walls, a chamber at the top of said casing having a floor extending downwardly from one end wall to the A other,said chamber having air inlet and air outlet openings adjacent its top in said end walls, respectively, and an outlet Jfor grain at the lower end of said floor, a vertical partition below said floor parallel to said end walls and forming a grain receiving chamber and a fan chamber, means for delivering grain through one side wall into said grain receiving chamber, means in said fan chamber for directing an air blast across said grain receiving chamber and through the grain therein, and a conduit connecting said grain receiving chamberwith said first mentioned air. inlet.

10. The structure set forth in claim 9, said last mentioned means including a plurality ofrair openings through said vertical partition through which said air blast passes into said grain receiving chamber. l

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

JACOB VVOLLMANN. 

